With all this fantastic weather over the past few weeks, unlike the rain, there's been no shortage of opportunities for sitting in the garden with a nice cold beer.

Unfortunately, even with some of the bargain deals supermarkets have been putting on, all that outdoor drinking time is going to add up so the time may have come for austerity measures to kick in on the next fridge-refilling expedition.

They're easy to ignore, but sitting on the shelves amid all the fancy branded brews are a selection of ultra-low price, basic beers, typically packaged in bland, nondescript and not especially attractive cans.

But do they deserve your attention? Are those jaw-dropping, rock-bottom prices a sign they're not very good? We tried the cheapest offerings at the four big supermarkets to see whether or not they were the stuff of beer-snob nightmares.

Sainsbury's Basics lager (4x440ml for £1.10)

Four cans of Sainsbury's Basics Lager will set you back just £1.10

What you get

Somewhat surprisingly given its slightly more upmarket pedigree, Sainsbury's most basic lager - such is the name - is ridiculously, suspiciously cheap at just £1.10 for four cans. It's cheaper than some bottled water which either says wet stuff sourced from the Alps or Fiji or wherever is ludicrously overpriced, or this beer is an absolute bargain.

I'll be totally honest, as snobbish as it sounds, I felt a tad embarrassed to be just going through the checkout with four cans of blandly-labelled beer so picked up a few bottles of slightly classier Bud Light at the same time. I justified this by convincing myself, at £3 for four bottles and being similarly low-alcohol - just 2 per cent - and inoffensive, it would make a fine comparative brew for this taste test.

First impressions

So, football on at home, I poured out a can into a glass and knew immediately, and unsurprisingly, this wasn't going to be an eye-opening, world-changing revelation leaving me slack jawed wondering why I'd never tried it before.

The head was more like the fizz when pouring Coke than proper beer and dissipated faster than Panama's defence in that memorably one-sided World Cup encounter last month. The taste can best be described as like if Robinson's made a beer-flavoured squash and made a mess of the water-to-juice ratio.

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The strongest praise I can offer is that, when my palate did manage to detect the ether of flavour within, it was far from the most unpleasant beer I have tried. And I once attempted to quaff an unspeakably vile 9 per cent maple bacon stout in 33 degree heat.

During my boredom drinking the lager, I noticed on the label that the entire can packed in just 58 calories. That's barely more than a finger of Kit-Kat.

Verdict

If you want something that vaguely resembles beer and won't put you on the journey to rotundness, it may fit the bill. But if you think beer is a treat to be enjoyed to its maximum potential, move along, there's nothing to see here.

And, yes, the Bud Light, though notoriously weak, is worth the extra £1.90.

Asda Biere De Luxe (4x440ml for £2.25)

The Biere De Luxe from Asda (Image: Grimsby Live)

What you get

Asda used to produce its own Smart Price lager but appears to have binned it and stepped up a bit in the face of new competition from Aldi and Lidl. At £2.25 for a four pack it works out at around 56p a can or the equivalent £1.28 a litre.

Now this looks a little different, the can has a colourful label and the rather grand name, Biere De Luxe French lager. A check on the can reveals this is actually French and not brewed in an enormous tin tub somewhere near Basingstoke.

Another check online shows that it’s actually brewed in France but a specialist in “own label” beers that has a small number of lager recipes for European market.

The French aren’t renowned for lagers, you’re as likely to find French quaffing small bottles of weak, thin lager as a refreshment rather than something to give a bit more bang. But I’m quite keen on Kronenburg 1664 so I was quite hopeful about Biere De Luxe which at 4% abv is the strongest on our test.

First impressions

Chilled and out of the can, it pours with a giant frothy head which takes a couple of minutes to settle. There’s enough amber colour to suggest this is going to be better than some of the own brands.

The first taste is quite interesting. There is no huge flavour but there is something. It doesn’t have that tasty kick of bitter hops like better or stronger lagers but there is a malty taste that lingers. It’s not too fizzy and just enough of that head stays to the end of the glass. But this isn’t a lager to sip on and much like a pint of that local stuff you might get on holiday, it falls flat quite quickly.

Verdict

Overall, it's not great but not bad at all. Easy drinking and arguably as good as the likes of Carling but much cheaper. Worth keeping a four pack in the fridge!

Morrisons Savers lager (4x440ml for £1.25)

Morrison's Savers lager

What you got

When I first saw the four cans sitting on Morrison's shelf for just £1.25, I thought there had been some kind of mistake. The quartet of plain white cans cost roughly the same as a bottle of Coke, which seemed like a steal. That’s over three pints, which would set you back the best part of tenner in a pub. In Morrison's, you could probably buy it with whatever change you had lying about in your pocket.

The design was certainly minimalist, with nothing besides the Morrisons savers logo. Rather than an evocative name of the beer's origin or taste, it simply read 'lager'. I don't like to judge a drink by it's can though, so I scrounged up £1.25 and took them home to put in the fridge.

First impressions

Beer was meant to be enjoyed outside on a warm evening, so that was exactly what I did. With the setting sun in the garden and the beer poured in my pint-sized mug, I thought I would be in just the right mood to enjoy some bargain beer.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere wasn't enough. The first thing I noticed was just how flavourless the liquid was. Its as nondescript as the plain can it comes in, as though the manufacturer had simply forgotten to add anything which makes beer worthwhile.

More sips confirmed the lager was bland and flavourless, like water but without the healthy benefits. It was just 2% alcohol, but without any kind of hoppy flavour, you might even forget what you’re drinking has any alcoholic content at all.

Verdict

Despite my reviewing responsibilities, I forfeited the task halfway through the first can, and poured the remainder down the sink. This was followed by plenty of water to clear my taste palate.

This may be passable for anyone on a tight budget, but everyone else should invest a little more to get something much superior.

Tesco Lager (4x440ml for £2.55)

Trying out Tesco 'Lager' (Image: Keane Duncan)

What you got

I am not sure how long Tesco's experts took to come up with the branding and packaging, but Tesco's own brand lager, known as 'Lager', came in a blue can with a big L on the front. A simplistic name choice, and a simplistic container. Tesco also has a premium own brand lager, known by the equally inventive title: 'Premium Lager'.

Tesco actually comes in as the most expensive of our four supermarket beers. In fact, a four-pack of Skol was actually cheaper at just £2. But at £2.55 for nearly two litres of British-made 3.8% alcoholic beverage, 'Lager' is still a pretty good deal.

First impressions

I'm not quite as classy as my colleagues. Rather than pouring my beverage into a glass, swirling it round, analysing the froth and then delicately sipping, I just swigged it straight from the can. I felt that this is how it was meant to be enjoyed and how it should be drank for optimum results. Overall, I thought 'Lager' was actually pretty good.

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After the first can, I decided I still could not quite encapsulate the flavour in written words - so I opened another. With the remaining cans also now gone, I'm still no further forward with bringing you an in-depth analysis of the barley, wheat and hops combination, but I can safely give you an overall verdict.

I accept that I may not be a connoisseur, but I do know what I like. And 'Lager', perhaps surprisingly, could compete with any of the mid-range lager brands. Maybe that extra few pence on the retail price has allowed Tesco to achieve what the other supermarkets have failed to do with their own-brand lager - balance price and taste to produce a perfectly acceptable drink that still falls safely into the discount category.